Hiring managers face many challenges when interviewing candidates. From finding the right skills and qualifications to actually do the necessary tasks to discovering a talent that will also be a good fit within the company “culture.” With so many businesses struggling today, there is more pressure than ever to find the right person for the job as quickly as possible. That leaves a lot riding on the interview.
It’s worth taking a little time before the interview comes around to think about the type of person you’re looking for to fill the position and then come up with questions that will help you find that person best. In this economy, it’s a good idea to focus your effort on finding talented people who aren’t afraid to think outside the box to get the job done.
These are ten of the best interview questions to ask in order to help you cut through the standard, rehearsed answers and find the right person to get the job done for your business.
1) What will make you love coming to work every day?
2) What are the top three things you need to be successful in this position and what could really prevent your success in here?
3) When is a time in your professional life that you’ve had to overcome a major obstacle in order to succeed?
4) If you could go back and start over in your career, what would you do differently this time around?
5) What do you see as the biggest challenge someone coming into this position for our company will have face?
6) What would you consider a successful first year if you were working in this position?
7) Describe one time when you took a risk and failed and one time where your big risk was successful. How were they different?
8) When working with other people, what changes have you made in order to be more effective at doing your job?
9) What’s one thing you wish you did better, and what plans do you have to improve that?
10) What are the top five attributes of successful people and what kind of role do they play in your life? In other words, how do you measure up?
Asking the right question will not only force the candidate to think outside the scope of typical interview questions, but it will also force the job-seeker to provide candid glimpses into the way he or she deals with real-world problems rather than theoretical problems. It’s a revealing way to go through the interview process, and it places a great deal of pressure on the candidate. This is a great way to see how he or she responds to that pressure and who among the candidates sinks like a stone or rises to the top.
Sources:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/CornerOffice/story?id=86287&page=1#.UChXNZ2PX0k
http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2011/08/03/the-best-interview-questions-you-never-ask/